No-Sew Fleece Blanket

An easy, no-sew gift for any age. Soft fleece makes it the perfect baby gift -- great for the stroller or the floor. Personalize by cross-stitching baby’s name and birthdate to make it extra special. Any child who can tie a knot can help with this activity!

What You’ll Need:
*For Baby/Child: 1.5 yards EACH of 2 different, but coordinating fleece designs
*For Teen/Adult: 2 yards EACH of 2 different but coordinating fleece designs
*Fabric scissors (or very sharp scissors)
*Large pins, optional

Preparation:
*Wash and dry fleece.
*Lay out fleece on the floor (we recommend vacuuming or sweeping first), one piece on top of the other, wrong sides facing together.
*Cut around the edges of both pieces at once to cut off excess. Your pieces do not need to be perfectly square, but you don’t want any jagged edges and you want both pieces to be the same size.
*Optional: Pin pieces together.

Activity
*Once pieces are the same size and are pinned together, if you choose to do so, you are ready to cut the strips, which will then be knotted together. Cut both pieces of fabric together. IMPORTANT: Cut a few strips on each side following directions below and try tying them in a knot to see if you need to make them longer or wider BEFORE cutting the whole blanket. Make a 4 to 5 inch cut every 1 to 1.5 inches along all 4 sides of the fabric. On the two sides of the fabric that have the most stretch, you want to make the strips WIDER (about 1.5 inches wide) and shorter (about 4 inches long) so they won’t rip while knotting. On the two sides of the fabric that have less stretch, you want to make the strips narrower and longer. The corners will get cut out in a 4 to 5 inch square. (Remove the pins after cutting.) Do not separate the fabric.

*Tie the two pieces of fleece together by knotting the strips of fleece. If you are personalizing the blanket, leave one corner open – about 10 to 12 inches on each side of the corner unknotted.
*If you are not adding the personalization, your blanket is done and we recommend washing and drying it one more time.

If you choose to personalize your blanket:
You will need waste canvas, cross-stitch floss, and a cross-stitch needle.
*You will need to pick out an alphabet design or create your own. www.freepatternsonline.com/xscharts/alphabets.htm has some great FREE alphabet patterns. We recommend choosing one that has thick lettering and using a large size grid (or doubling up stitches on the smaller grid) because the cross-stitch floss can get lost in the fleece.
*We also recommend copying the design onto graph paper in pencil so that you can space out the letters appropriately and see how they will all look together before starting. www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=1653 has FREE printable graph paper.
*Center the birthdate below the name on the graph paper. If you are very creative or have some cross-stitch patterns already, you can add a pretty design to your cross-stitch, too.
*Using a strand of cross-stitch floss, baste-stitch the waste canvas onto your blanket on a diagonal in the center of the corner that you left open. Because the fabric bunches once it is tied, you’ll want to move it down a few inches from the corner. You are only cross-stitching ONE layer of fabric.
*Cross-stitch the design onto the corner on the waste canvas. We recommend using at least 2 strands of floss.
*Dampen the waste canvas and cut it off as close to the design as possible. Use tweezers to pull out the remaining pieces of waste canvas, dampening as needed.
*Tie the remaining strips into knots.
*Wash and dry the blanket on a gentle setting.

Don't forget to send us a picture of your version of our craft: info@mycalendarmaker.com -- we may post it on our site!

Suggested Resources:
• Yarntree.com -- Learn how to cross-stitch in 5 minutes
• Cross-stitching directions for kids -- plus FREE designs and framing ideas
• Tips for working with fleece

This activity can be found in the Arts & Crafts section of our site.